2004

Evgeny Kuznetsov and Valeri Nichushkin stand before Nikita Nesterov, who is curled up, wiping his eyes and beginning to smile, in the Sphere of Love monument in Chelyabinsk, Russia.

"Ever heard of a guy named Alexander Ovechkin?" Evgeny asks him.

Nesty shakes his head.

"Well, you're going to be in for a real treat," Val says, rather excitingly.

They help Nesty to his feet and lead him out of the monument. They stand on either side of him and the sounds remain muffled. They lead him to a special Russia-colored cab that is awaiting them at the curb. No one bothers them and Nesty is shocked as he gets into the backseat.

The cab launches off for an abandoned olympic stadium. They get out and head inside. As soon as they step into the place, Nesty gasps in shock. All around him, he sees people with superpowers. A nice variety of powers too. He glances down at his stuck steel arm and smiles.

"Home," he mutters.

Evgeny and Val share a look and nod. Suddenly Evgeny halts in place and says, "Hey, I have to go somewhere, but I think you both can handle things. I'll let Ovi know you're here too! Welcome to paradise and safety, Nesty."

Then he instantly turns on his heels and quickly walks away. He rushes through a hallway and into a spare room. He leans against a desk, with his palms down and looks toward a mirror. Then he looks down at his hands, which begin to sink through the surface of the desk. I am phasing again! Why can't I control this?

He continues to sink downward until he slips through the ground, before he pops back up through it and runs across the room to the wall. He suddenly stops and just stares at the wall, blankly.

Evgeny reaches out toward it and puts his hand on the wall. Nothing happens. He slams his head against the hard plaster.

All of a sudden a deep, familiar voice growls to him, "Nessie, что вы делаете? Ты в порядке? (What are you doing? Are you okay?)"

Nessie keeps his head against the wall, hung low and facing it. "На что это похоже? (What does it look like?)"

"Speak in English to me, as you will need to master it, if you want to follow in my footsteps young one. Tell me what is wrong?" the same voice speaks again.

"Go away Ovi, you don't--I've been trying to control my powers, but I can't! They betray me! When I want to walk through the wall, I can't. Yet my hand can go through furniture or I can go through the ground when I don't want to. And today, things got out of hand..."

"Evgeny," Ovechkin says, as he walks into the room and up to the young man. "Nessie, I have faith in you. All of us do. You just need to focus and believe in yourself. With focus and belief, you're unstoppable."

Evgeny spins around. "But I promised to use my powers for good...and..."

"As did I. Accidents will happen and there is nothing you can do about it, but you can learn from it and better yourself. There is no need to worry or beat yourself up over an accident. As long as you remain true to yourself and believe and focus, you'll be rewarded," Ovechkin says, grabbing Evgeny's chin and lifting his head up.

Evgeny looks at the man and nods, cracking a small grin in the corner of his mouth. "I guess you're right Ovi."

"Of course I am, I care about you. You're like my son and I'll always be there to protect and defend you, but you need to learn to handle yourself solo as well. There are only a select number of us mutants and I need you to do good and stay hidden."

"I know, I know." Evgeny tosses his head from side to side and backs away. "I'm trying, I really am, but these powers...they're just so..." He trails off and puts his hand on the table, having it sink down and him to lower with it, unprepared. "...difficult to understand."

"Nessie, with time you will master Intangibility. I know you will. Backs saw you master it in a vision...as well as other issues...but I have faith in you!" Ovechkin states, righting him and pulling his invisible hand and arm out of the table, causing it to return to normal.

Evgeny looks at his arm and nods. "Yeah..."

"Now, why don't you walk with me and tell me what happened and explain the steel-armored man to me?" Ovechkin suggests with a wink.

Evgeny nods. "Sure."

They walk out of the room and into the hallway, looking into the abandoned sporting arena and Evgeny launches into his story, "Well, Val and I were out jogging in Chelyabinsk and we saw someone getting attacked and chased by some mortals. So we decided to investigate. We found Nikita Nesterov cowering in fear in the center of the famous Sphere of Love monument. So I, um..." He looks down.

"What did you do, Nessie?" Ovechkin pressures lightly.

"I tried to stop someone throwing things at him, not realizing that the monument had been cloaked as a safe haven. But I phased...through...them... I didn't mean it though!" Evgeny quickly recalls.

Ovechkin puts an arm around him, stopping them both before a balcony, looking down at the half-hockey, half-obstacle course below. "Of course you didn't. No one ever means to hurt anyone, unless there is good reason to. Look out at your brothers and sisters, Nessie, everyone here has had a moment or two they wish to correct."

Evgeny does so, clasping his hands in front of him.

"You're not alone. And you did a good thing, finding young Nesterov and bringing him to me. That almost cancels out the unfortunate mortal death. Things will happen out of our control, you must learn and move on. Nesterov, is he a 'HAM'?"

"He is a Hockey (player) And Mutant," Evgeny replies.

"Then he is welcome to stay and train. I will go find him, and you, shall go work more on controlling those powers of yours. Remember, have faith and focus," Ovechkin says as he pats Evgeny on the head and then walks off, leaving him alone.